North Shore Music Teachers Association

Connecting the Chicago North Shore community to music educators since 1974.

The North Shore Music Teachers Association (NSMTA) is a group of teachers from the Chicago suburbs who love music and love to teach! We gather for meetings each month to network, exchange ideas, and gain inspiration. We organize events for our students including competitions, recitals, and non-competitive festivals and exams.

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NSMTA News and Announcements

Monthly Meeting

Join us on the 4th Monday of the month as we gather for our monthly member meetings!

The next monthly meeting is on March 25, 2024.

  • 9:30-10:00 Pre-Meeting Presentation

  • 10:00-11:00 Business Meeting & Refreshments

  • 11:00-12:00 Program

Meetings will take place in-person at Northfield Community Church (400 Wagner Road, Northfield, IL 60093).

Those who wish to attend remotely may view the meeting live via Zoom. The Zoom link will be emailed to members a few days prior to the meeting.

Head over to the Calendar of Events (or click on each presenter’s picture) for more meeting information.

Fellow MTNA Members are Invited!

In the collegial spirit and to engage a wider audience for our esteemed program speakers, members of other MTNA chapters are invited to join our monthly meetings on Zoom. If you are interested, submit your request for the Zoom link.

March Pre-Meeting Performer:
Lam Wong

Mini Concert Program:

Alexander Scriabin - Nocturne in D-flat major for the Left Hand, Op. 9 No. 2

Claude Debussy - Suite bergamasque, L. 75

  • Prélude

  • Menuet

  • Clair de lune

  • Passepied

Claude Debussy - L'isle joyeuse, L. 106

Read Lam’s biography here

March Program Presenter:
Regina Syrkin

Program: Russian Piano School: Myths and Truth

As you will see from my bio I have extensive experience in teaching piano.

Of course I keep comparing my "American" experience with my "Russian" one and in my teaching I try to use the best example from both.

Very often I read in different articles and heard at different presentations about the so called Russian piano method which I never heard of being a student at Russian school of music. On the other hand I'd like to share some tips I did learn there which helped me a lot in teaching until nowadays.

I hope it will be helpful to some young teachers.

As I mentioned, I will focus mostly on technique and repertoire.

Read Regina’s biography here.